Neighbours
by Combo-Shlack
Summary: If you have something to throw, there will always be a trash can at the corner of the street.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi,**

**First of all, yes, I am aware that the summary makes absolutely no sense at all. But it will come!**

**So here is a new story. It's my therapy to learn to be more descriptive so it's going to be different than my other one! I'm going to try to keep the characters as close to the show as possible but I'm taking some liberties here by making it an AU story. You'll soon see how much but it shouldn't be too disturbing, I promise. It should just bring some Jisbon action! But still the CBI, still Jane as a pain in the ass consultant, still the team, still cases to solve.  
**

**Well, you'll see! I don't want to spoil too much now. I hope you'll like it!**

**And before I let you read I'll just add a big thank you to Habeous Corpus for being my beta reader and for her Etoile d'or ;)**

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Lisbon shut quietly the door behind her and was now out of her boss' office. She wasn't moving though. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to react. Surprised? Probably. Shocked? Definitely. Aprehensive? Without any doubt. Happy? Not so sure. Still, fear seemed to be getting the better of her.

30 minutes ago she never would have guessed what she was about to be told. She never thought that a wave of such intense feelings could ever come back to the surface. She had tried so hard to make those feelings disappear... She knew she would have to face that part of her past sooner or later but not that soon and certainly not like that.

Eventually, she came out of her thoughts and managed to move. She went straight to her office. She didn't pay any attention to the members of her team who must have been staring at her for quite some time now. They sure weren't used to see her like that. They were fearing the worse but didn't try to get her attention as she was making her way to her office either. They knew she would come out eventually.

Lisbon was now at her desk. She was staring into space, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do. Well, she knew what she was supposed to do but didn't know how. Her eyes landed on the file in front of her. A standard brown CBI file that would have seemed so innocent to anyone who would have taken a quick look at it. And still she couldn't remember any file making her so apprehensive.

When Minelli had explained what it was and why she should read it, she froze. She felt like a ton of bricks had been thrown on her shoulders. During his speech she simply nodded and stayed very quiet, waiting for it to end. She didn't say she knew exactly what was in the file. Not a word. She just nodded. Minelli seemed surprised. Probably waiting for the fight he was sure she would have started the second he began to tell her why he called her in his office. In other circumstances, she would have, but that? She wasn't prepared for that. She wasn't sure she _could_ have done anything else than nodd and stay quiet.

And now she was alone, hadn't any case to solve, hadn't anywhere to go but had this thin file staring at her. If she opened it, the wave of feelings she felt earlier would grow even bigger and would definitely be unstoppable. And there was nothing she could do about it.

She took the file. Her heart began to pound faster, her chest tightened and she felt a wave of heat making its way from her knoted stomach to her temples. Why the stress was taking over her body was a mistery. It was not like she would have learned anything more from the file than she already did.

And still, the name on the bottom was enough to make her want to run in the opposite direction.

She was a tough person. Always has been. Especially in difficult situations. She made a carrier out of it, she wouldn't have her own team if she wasn't strong. Fleeing wasn't something anyone would picture her doing. That just wasn't her. But right now? In this office? Looking at this file? That was definitely something she wanted to do. As far as possible. But she couldn't go back to her usual state of permanent denial, the file she was holding was making it all real.

She was begining to feel ridiculous. All those memories were long behind her. Maybe she was supposed to be happy about all this after all. After all this time. And she was a grown up now. How could that affect her so much now? Probably just the effect of surprise.

But as she eventually opened the file and took a look at the first page, she felt a single warm tear falling down her right cheek, leaving her with a salty taste as it ended its course at the corner of her mouth.

That's when she realized she wasn't sure she could be strong enough to see Patrick Jane again.

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**I know it's very short but I don't have a lot of time these days. I will next time though! I hope it wasn't too boring and that it was enough to make you want to come back for the next chapter ^^ **

**Thanks for reading and see you to my next therapy session!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, here is my new therapy session!**

**I would like to say a few things... First of all, thank you so much for all the reviews, it made me really really happy. I won't say more because if I do I'll start to ramble and if I do I won't stop and that can get...ugly ^^ Two of them were unsigned so I wasn't able to answer before but it will be done by the end of this author's note!**

**I also wanted to point out that this chapter hadn't been read by my wonderful beta reader Habeous Corpus so there should be english mistakes, sorry... But I'll be gone for two weeks and wanted to post this chapter before I leave!**

**I know this chapter is short, I'm sorry but next time it will be longer I swear. **

dawn2dusk: thank you so much! I was very happy with your comment about the descriptions. And when I say that I mean very very happy! Hope you'll like this!

Sasha: I know I already answer to you over some bread and chocolate milk but I'll just add this comment: please put those fat smiley of yours on a diet! ;D))

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Patrick Jane always considered himself as a confident man. Always sure of himself. He knew what he wanted and if he realized he could get it, he would go without any doubt in his mind and he would get it. And this time shouldn't be any different. This self insurance often brought him trouble but it had always been worth it. As a kid, as a teenager, as an adult, always.

He also always had the looks to back him up if necessary. Very few people were immune to his smile: his seventh grade teacher, his uncle Eric, his high school best friend and the neighbours' dog. Go figure.

As he was making his way trhough the corridors, he saw a woman looking for someone. He knew he was the one she was looking for and he knew she wouldn't be immune to his smile. She would try, of course, and who didn't? But she would give in eventually. And he couldn't be more happy about it.

"Hi, I'm Patrick Jane. I believe you were looking for me?"

She looked at him but remained silent. At first she was just surprised he realized she was looking for him and then she just looked at him. Probably surprised by the smile. She obviously didn't expect someone like him. She eventually got over it and smiled.

"Yes, I am, actually. Follow me."

The small talk they engaged was nice. Sure it was very superficial but it was enough for him to take mental notes about his interlocutor. He couldn't help but he was already testing her. It was slight, she probably didn't even notice but he saw what he wanted to see: how far he could go before he pushed her buttons too far. It was what he always did when he met someone new and he was pleased to see he had some margin with her. Sure, she would soon be annoyed, eventually rolling her eyes and shoting him glares but she seemed to already like him.

He would like it here. He knew it. Confident as always. Right?

He was already doing his tricks and as he saw her amazed face he couldn't be more pleased to see his magic happening once again.

"So you're a psychic right?"

She really was a good public and he wouldn't complain, he always liked the attention.

"Oh no, there is no such thing as a pshychic."

They went back to their small talk and he kept on his little show. But as they made their way to what seemed to be their final destination, he wasn't paying so much attention anymore. He knew what was about to come and even if he convinced himself for days that it would all go well, he couldn't repress a small hint of hesitation.

"So here are agent Cho and Rigsby"

He didn't even realize his red haired guide was making presentations. He shook the hands that were hold out to him but his eyes were already on the fifth person in the room. When she heard them, she looked up in their directions.

"And here is our boss. Teresa Lisbon."

Suddenly, he was not so confident anymore.

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**I swear next time the chapter will be longer! I hope those of you who liked the first chapter weren't disappointed.**

**This story is still a little...experimental. I know what will happen, how it will end etc but I'm not exactely sure how I'm going to write this yet. I'm about 97% sure there will be flashbacks to explain what happened between Jane and Lisbon but I haven't decided if I'll make chapters just for the flashbacks or if I'll put them between present scenes. If you'd like one way better than the other, my inbox would be more than pleased to welcome any review ^^**

**And as I said, I'll be gone for two weeks so next chapters should take about three weeks to come (because I'll need at least a week to recover from the next two). Sooner if I find the trick to write while sleeping!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi!**

**As usual, I would like to say a few things...**

**First, thank you for all your reviews! And sorry I couldn't answer before but I was very very far to any computer and I honestly had no time anyway. I hope I didn't forget anyone!**

**I also wanted to add that I know that Van Pelt's first episode was the pilot but I thought that since I already changed the pilot it wouldn't be too confusing. I have to admit I was a bit lazy on this one because it was easier to say she was already there... I wanted to precise it at the beginning of last chapter but I forgot, thanks to my incapacity to ally speed and lack of sleep. **

**And finally, big thank you to Habeous Corpus for being my beta!**

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The silence was awkward. Very awkward. Since Van Pelt introduced Jane to Lisbon, none of the agents had said a word. Jane and Lisbon were staring at each other while the three others were looking back and forth between them not quite understanding what was going on.

Van Pelt was the first to break the now heavy silence in the room.

"Boss?"

Lisbon eventually tore her gaze away from Jane. She shook her head and opened her mouth to respond but Jane was quicker.

"Hi Agent Lisbon. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I heard nothing but good things about you."

He flashed her his usual grin and held out his hand.

When Van Pelt adressed to her seconds ago, Lisbon had recomposed herself and had been about to speak but now, she was back in her silence. Except it was no longer awkward, it was shocked. That didn't help her team to understand the scene before them.

She slowly held out her hand and brushed Jane's before quickly taking it back. She would have touched a burning electric plate she probably wouldn't have reacted differently.

Suddenly, she turned back and went straight to her office, closing the door behind her.

"What was that?" Rigsby was the first one to react. The answers he got were two shrugs and one grin. They all turned to the last one. "Do you know each other?"

This time he didn't even get a grin since Jane was already at Lisbon's door, knocking. He had to repeat the operation twice before they heard a calm "Come in" from Lisbon. Jane didn't wait any longer and instantly opened the door, leaving three confused agents behind him.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you?" Lisbon asked her question to Jane's back since she didn't wait for him to finish closing the door to do so. He took a second before he finally turned to face her, his grin right in place.

"Well, I thought it would be more appropriate. And I know how you like appropriate."

Lisbon stared at him. "And how would you know what I like?" If Jane took the remark and the cold tone she used badly, he didn't show it. "Come on. How should I have known that you wouldn't shoot me if I had any kind of familiar behaviour?"

Lisbon couldn't deny he had a point.

"And now I can say it was a joke or whatever will suit you. It would have been quite difficult the other way around. Difficult to not sound awfully inappropriate I mean."

Jane saw on her face that she realized it was now impossible to not acknowledge the fact that he was making sense.

"Why?"

"Why would it be difficult?"

Jane had known immediately what Lisbon meant with that question. They were no longer talking about his previous behaviour but about his presence at the CBI. Except he was determined to postpone that particular conversation. But the smile that was still planted on his face didn't win Lisbon over.

"Come on Patrick you know what I'm talking about. You know I never fell for that stupid smile of yours."

" Just checking how much things have changed. How fun would it have been if that had changed?"

Lisbon's serious face didn't even flinch.

"Come on Teresa. Where is the harm in a little teasing?"

" Where you use it to avoid my questions."

They stared at each other once again and he eventually pointed the door.

"You know, you shouldn't keep your colleagues over there in the dark. They were quite taken aback by your earlier reaction."

" Patrick..."

Her warning tone didn't even seem to have reached him as he was already at the door, waiting for her to go ahead.

"I know that look Patrick. Don't even think this conversation is over."

" I wouldn't dream of it, neighbour."

Lisbon had been about to roll her eyes when that last word made her froze.

"Don't call me that."

As she walked past him, she thought she heard him sigh but when she looked at him he had his grin still going strong. She decided to forget about it and she focused on her team. They were obviously trying to look busy and not interested by them but trying isn't necessarily a synonym of succeding.

"Guys."

She didn't need to repeat, she instantly had three pairs of eyes on her.

"As I already told you, Jane here is going to work with us. I wanted to have you all in the same room to repeat some instructions."

She turned to Jane who was patiently waiting, hands behind his back, between two desks. "And you better listen carefully. You're the one who needs to hear all of that. And by that I mean I know you're the one who is going to need to be remembered three times a day." Jane held his hands in the air and took his most innocent look. "I'm all ears."

Lisbon turned back to the others.

" Jane is not an agent. You have to remember that. He's a consultant." When she said that last word she turned her gaze to Jane and made sure he heard her insist on it. "He won't have a gun and he can't make any arrest. You'll need, and I have to insist on that, to keep an eye on him." She looked at Jane again. "All the time."

Jane didn't seem to mind the menacing tone. On the contrary, his grin grew even bigger. If possible.

Van Pelt, Rigsby and Cho weren't less confused but none of them dared to ask what exactely was going on. Once again, silence filled the room but not for long this time.

"Excuse me... Boss?" Jane's amusement when he called Lisbon "Boss" was obvious and had the only effect to make Lisbon sigh. "Yes Jane?"

"Is the use of our last names really necessary? I mean... You know."

It was now hard to avoid the questioning looks of her colleagues. Lisbon turned first to Jane. "Yes. It is. I'm your boss. And you better not call me anything other than Lisbon or boss. Whatever happened in the past is by definition, in the past. Period."

She then answered to the three very lost agents. "Yes, Jane and I already knew each other but it's not gonna change anything. We're not friends. We don't know each other anymore, we're coworkers." If any of them wasn't satisfied with that answer, none of them showed it and they simply nodd.

Jane was no longer between two desks and had made his way to the couch.

"Huh, nice couch."

They all turned to him, which was apparentely the exact effect he was looking for.

"Don't you forget anything boss?"

Not sure of what he meant, Lisbon waited for him to go on.

"Maybe you should tell them why I'm a consultant."

Lisbon didn't say a word, she just stood there and finally nodded, making sign that he should go on.

"I don't know what exactely agent Lisbon here told you but I guess you were quite shocked when you heard you'll have a consultant. Which is totally natural by the way, you're agents, you know your job, you don't need that kind of bullet."

He posed to study their faces.

"Your faces tell me you have quite a number of questions about my presence here. I see Lisbon didn't tell you much. Maybe she doesn't have all the elements herself?"

But as soon as he looked in Lisbon's direction he saw that she had all the elements. She just either didn't want to tell them herself or couldn't and that was something he decided he would find out later.

"Well, then, let's be sure you have all the information you need and tell you all there is to know." Jane marked a pause. At this point his grin had turned into a light smile but it was there, nevertheless.

"As CBI agents, I'm sure you've worked on the Red John case and you must have read my name in the file and already know what I'm about to say. I used to lie for a living. I pretended to be a psychic when I was just someone with observations skills. I helped people with their grief by pretending to be able to talk with what they call the other side. I was pretentious, I was greedy and I liked the way cameras emphasized me. I regret it every single second of my present life because my way of life made Red John very angry and he ended up killing my wife and child. Now, what you don't know is that I'm going to work with you in order to help you solve cases but also to progress in my search of Red John. And that, is the reason I'm here."

For the first time since he started his speech he looked up in Lisbon's direction, not sure what to expect, only to discover she was no longer there.

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**As promised it was a longer chapter but it should get even longer later. I'm still in the introduction phase but not for long! Anyway, thank you for reading, I hope you liked it.  
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**Next chapter shouldn't be long to come but as a loyal tennis geek I spend most of my days watching Roland Garros on tv so I guess it will depend on that ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

**I have just enough time to post this chapter because I'm in a café and my computer battery is dying so I don't have time to answer to the reviews but I promess to do it next chapter! I hope you'll like this one. Oh and the italic part is a flash back ^^ I'm sorry I can't elaborate but my computer is agonising...  
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After Jane finished, an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Lisbon leaving didn't really help and Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt stood there for a while. Then they went to their respective desks and Jane stayed on the couch. He didn't care about the silence because he was used to it but what he did care about was Lisbon. He was wondering at what point she left. But he knew he wouldn't know for a while because they wouldn't talk about it for a while. He couldn't deny his presence was awkward even if he knew he made the right decision becasue things needed to be said and that couldn't be ignored anymore.

Jane was now laying on the couch but as he realised that he also decided to go see Lisbon in her office so he stood up, passed the other's desks and a still sorry looking Van Pelt to who he gave the "it's ok" smile he had to use so much. He was now standing in front of Lisbon's office. He knocked and decided he should try to be patient and wait for an answer to come in. Put all the chances on his side.

"Come in"

He opened the door, entered and closed behind him. Lisbon was doing paperwork and didn't look up when Jane entered. It didn't take long to Jane to figure out she wasn't really doing paperwork but was just trying to look busy. He always knew when she was upset and it was one of those times. The problem was that, for once, he couldn't figure out what exactly upset her. Well, he knew what but he wasn't sure what part.

"I was wondering if you were working on a case right now."

That made her look up. He knew they weren't working on a case and she knew he knew. It would have been obvious to anybody since none of them was doing anything in particular. And what is obvious to anybody couldn't possibly be unnoticed by Patrick Jane.

"What do you want?"

She didn't exactly plan her answer to be so blunt but he didn't seem to mind. In fact, it brought a grin to his face.

"That is some nice greeting."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Come on Patrick. You knock, you ask a question you already know the answer to...? I know you wouldn't be so...careful if it wasn't for a reason."

He seemed satisfied that she noticed his effort and took it as an encouragement to go on.

"I would like to invite the team to dinner and hoped it would be ok with you"

The look on Lisbon's face showed him that wasn't what she expected.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

It was now Jane's time to be taken aback, he didn't expect it to be easy. "I don't know, I'm just checking"

Lisbon looked back down at her paperwork "Well, it's ok. Have fun."

Jane understood now why it had been so easy and thought Lisbon's fake paperwork could wait. "No, I said the team. You're part of the team. You're going." At that point, Lisbon thought fake paperwork could wait too. "No I'm not."

Her tone was decided but Jane wasn't impressed. "Why not?" He had been used to her refusing everything he would come up with and there had been a time when he would just have to grab her arm and drag her with him to end the conversation. But that time was quite far and now he had to debate with her to actually convince her. What a waste of time.

"It's not my thing." Jane almost laughed at that answer but figured it wouldn't help his case if he did so he refrained himself.

"I'm pretty sure Cho isn't the most social guy there is and he's coming. I guess. I didn't ask them yet but I'm pretty sure he will." Lisbon rolled her eyes. "That's so typical."

"What's so typical?"

Lisbon wasn't sure why she was getting angry but she couldn't help it.

"You Patrick. You're so typical. You decide something and everyone has to agree with you. Everything has to go your way. You're unbelievable!"

Jane knew he had to be patient and keep his cool if he wanted to get somewhere with her right now.

"It's just a dinner Teresa."

Lisbon sighed. "No, it's not just dinner, we both know that."

"It's not about us Teresa. We have things to discuss but right now I'm talking about a dinner with the team. I don't..." But Lisbon didn't let him finish his sentence. "Forget it. I don't want to fight with you."

Jane frowned. "I'm not sure what there is to fight about" She knew he was right and she knew she shouldn't react like that but she couldn't help but think she should see more to that so called simple dinner.

Jane, however, knew he had his victory but waited another 45 seconds to get it.

"I swear I have no intention to poison you. We won't go anywhere near a Japanese restaurant."

As he had planned, this memory brought a small smile on Lisbon's lips and it was all it took to make her understand she didn't really have a choice.

*******

"_Come on Teresa! It will be fun!__"_

"_Patrick, for the last time, no! I don't want to go out tonight, go home."_

"_It's just a dinner." _

"_No it's not. I know you. It's your very not subtle attempt at cheering me up and I already told you I don't need to be cheered up! I'm fine."_

_Unfortunately for Lisbon, she knew that wouldn't be enough to convince Jane. _

" _Teresa?"_

" _What?"_

" _I am truly hurt that you think I would do such a mean thing to you. This is outrageous." he said in his most innocent tone. "Yeah, right, play it dumb. Well, you know what? You're an idiot."_

" _Oh that's so sweet, thank you."_

" _Go away." She turned her back to him but it didn't take long to Jane to stand in front of her again. _

"_I'm affraid I can't, dear neighbour." She sighed at his answer. "And why is that? Why can't you leave me alone?_

"_Because you're my neighbour."_

"_Oh no... Here we go." Lisbon now knew what was coming and she knew she couldn't do anything to stop his speech. As he started she took her head in her hands and waited for him to be finished, hoping he would be quick this time. Jane was going from a side of the room to an other, moving his arms in the air for dramatic effect._

" _And do you know how profond my love is for you? Do you have any idea what I could do for you? Our link is the thing I cherish the most in this crazy world and I..." _

_He stopped and looked at Lisbon. He got tired and wasn't really in the mood to be patient anymore. _

" _You know what? It was nice talking to you."_

"_Patrick, don't even think about it. I'm warning you Pa... Get off of me!"_

_Jane wasn't impressed by Lisbon threats all the way to the restaurant and let go of her arms only when they were seated inside._

" _See? This is nice."_

" _Of all the places you could have taken me, you had to chose a Japanese restaurant?"_

" _What is wrong with that?"_

" _Oh come on. You know what's wrong with that. I told you a million times: I hate Japanese!"_

" _And I told you a million times: it's stupid."_

" _Taste can't be stupid."_

" _Trust me, I've seen your DVD collection. It can be."_

" _I'm not eating."_

" _Now that is really stupid."_

" _Are you trying to poison me? Is that what this is about?" _

" _And me who thought I was being subtle about it. Come on Teresa you..." _

_But he didn't get to finish his sentence, Lisbon had taken the nearest thing__ to her which happened to be one of the sticks she was supposed to eat with and threw it at him, knowing it would be the only way to make him stop talking. Jane didn't really appreciate the gesture._

"_Have you gone mad?!"_

" _What?"_

" _What do you mean "what"? I almost lost an eye!"_

_It didn't take long to a waiter to come to their table, a concern look on his face._

" _Excuse me sir, is everything alright?" _

_Jane and Lisbon's answers were __simultanous. "Yes." " No!" But Jane was the only one to keep talking. " She just threw a stick at me! It almost got into my eye!" _

_Lisbon looked at the waiter who seemed lost._

"_He was being annoying so I may have thrown it to him to shut him up. He's fine, he just wants attention." _

_The waiter turned back to Jane._

"_Sir, your yelling is bothering the others costomers. I'm going to have to ask you to calm down or to leave." _

_Jane mumbled that it wouldn't happen again but it didn't take long to the same waiter to come back and ask them to leave after customers complains._

" _See what you just did?"_

" _What I just did? You're the one who's responsable! I almost lost an eye!" _

_Lisbon laughed at Jane__'s childish tone and put an arm around one of his, letting her head lean on his shoulder._

" _You are such a baby."_

" _Danger."_

" _Fragile little thing."_

" _Eye killer."_

_They were now both laughing. _

" _Do you think one day we'll be able to stay in a restaurant long enough to actually eat?"_

" _Probably not." _

*******

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Japanese food is just fine."

Lisbon's smile was still small but her tone change from agressive to playful.

"Right. So some things actually changed. Alright then, Japanese it is."

At that comment she tried her best to seem threatening. Not very successfully but at least she tried.

"I didn't say I would come." He laughed. "You know you don't have a choice."

With that he went out of her office, only to come back seconds later.

"Oh and huh... Try to behave, I don't want to be kicked out before we eat."

The only answer Jane got was Lisbon's pen thrown at him leaving him just enough time to avoid it. As the pen touch the floor she heard Jane fake shock and say just loud enough for her to hear "Eye killer".

Lisbon's smile wasn't really small anymore and she realised that maybe she could handle dinner.


End file.
